Activision Blizzard has announced it has agreed to acquire King Digital Entertainment, best known for free-to-play puzzle sensation Candy Crush, for a whopping $5.9 billion.

In a press release, the twin publisher said it can now lay claim to “one of the largest entertainment networks” with “over half a billion monthly active users in 196 countries” and ten of “the world’s most iconic interactive entertainment franchises”.

Despite the whopping outlay, Activision Blizzard “remains the most profitable, successful standalone interactive entertainment company in the world”, apparently, adding approximately 30% to the company’s expected 2016 adjusted revenues. The deal works out well for King shareholders too, as they’re expected to receive $18 per share, or 20% over King’s October 30 closing price.

“The boards of directors of both Activision Blizzard and King unanimously approved the acquisition, which is being implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement under Irish law,” the publisher said.

“Activision Blizzard expects that this leading content, together with expertise across subscription, upfront purchase, free-to-play and micro-transaction business models will enhance Activision Blizzard’s position as one of the world’s most successful interactive entertainment companies.”

King will continue to operate independently, led by its existing officers. It currently boasts two of the top five highest-grossing mobile games in the US – Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush Soda Saga.

It’s all very reminiscent of when EA bought PopCap. Remember when $750 million felt like a lot of money? EA Mobile is minting it these days, too.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/11/03/activision-blizzard-just-spent-5-9b-on-candy-crush/feed/0Honest Game Trailers destroys Candy Crush Sagahttp://www.vg247.com/2014/06/02/honest-game-trailers-candy-crush-saga-just-destroyed/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/06/02/honest-game-trailers-candy-crush-saga-just-destroyed/#commentsMon, 02 Jun 2014 10:41:39 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=475788Candy Crush Saga has been given the Honest Trailers treatment, and the result is quite savage.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/06/02/honest-game-trailers-candy-crush-saga-just-destroyed/feed/1Care to guess how much Rockstar’s founders are personally worth?http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/19/rockstar-founders-dan-sam-houser-worth-times-rich-list-2014/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/19/rockstar-founders-dan-sam-houser-worth-times-rich-list-2014/#respondMon, 19 May 2014 09:02:58 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=472823The Times has published its yearly Rich List feature, which charts the worth of Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest people. Rockstar founders Sam and Dan Houser are on the list, along with four people with controlling interests in Candy Crush developer King.

This may surprise you, given how well Grand Theft Auto 5 and other Rockstar properties have sold over the years, but the Housers placed at 947 with a combined worth of £90 million. You can only imagine how much the higher places are worth. It’s dizzying.

Top of the list’s gaming category is Mel Morris, a businessman our of Derbyshire who owns a 12% stake stake in Candy Crush developer King worth £407 million. He’s ranked 238 overall and is worth £430 million.

He’s not the only King shareholder on the list either. Company co-founder and CEO Riccardo Zacconi sat at 271th place with an overall worth of £354 million, while his fellow founder Sebastian Knutsson placed at 458th with £200 million. We really hope Riccardo isn’t slinging it in Sebastian’s face.

They’re followed by King COO Stephane Kurgan, who is worth £85 million overall, thanks to his £84 million stake in the firm. He entered the list at 989.

Other big hitters included GAME founder Neil Taylor who is worth £220 million, and Jagex founders Andrew and Paul Gower at £102 million.

The casual publisher reported increases in profits, player numbers and conversion. Quarterly profit of $127 million, up $75 million year-on-year.

Daily active users rose to 143 million, which is a 107 million year-on-year increase and 19 million quarter-on-quarter. Monthly active users rose to 481 million, up both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

Three king titles made the top 10 grossing games for Facebook, Google Play and iTunes. “Three?” you ask, but yes, King does have games other than Candy Crush, and as it happens these other games are now contributing 33% more revenue than last quarter.

“We are pleased with our first quarter 2014 results and are executing on our plan to build a strong portfolio of games,” King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like shareholders got the positive message; Gamespot reports shares have fallen 15% in the wake of the earnings release.

Speaking to IGN, Palm said free-to-play is superior to other business models.

“The micro-transaction is so strong and it’s definitely a much better model. I think all companies have to transition over to that,” he said.

“If you talk to many hardcore gamers, they’re not happy about it right now, but if you asked them about the long term, ‘Do you want to continue playing your favourite game for years to come?’ And the answer will be yes.”

That’s not to say every freemium model is working, Palm cautioned, saying companies need to learn how to strike the right balance.

“Free-to-play games are difficult to do, and you really need to be good at making it feel balanced to the gamers. So it’s not too greedy,” he said.

“At King, for instance, we took the decision to make our games truly free-to-play, so you will never end up in the position where you’re forced to pay.”

About half of all top level Candy Crush players didn’t pay, he added, and pointed to Blizzard’s card battler Hearthstone: heroes of Warcraft as an example of free-to-play done right.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/16/candy-crush-saga-dev-all-companies-have-to-transition-to-free-to-play/feed/8Candy Crush Saga developer King opens over 160 jobs to grow staff count by 25%http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/candy-crush-saga-developer-king-opens-over-160-jobs-to-grow-staff-count-by-25/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/candy-crush-saga-developer-king-opens-over-160-jobs-to-grow-staff-count-by-25/#commentsWed, 02 Apr 2014 09:09:36 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=461486Candy Crush Saga developer King.com is looking to raise its head-count by 25%, with the posting of over 160 new job roles at the firm.

It follows the launch of King.com’s IPO, which debuted as one of the worst in recent history. The company’s stock has drifted between $18 and $20 per share on the New York Stock Exchange since it went public.

The WallStreetJournal reports that some 165 jobs have now opened at King.com, spread across sites in Europe, North America and Asia.

Most roles are based in development, suggesting a push to create more new titles to follow in Candy Crush Saga’s footsteps. Other roles concern engineering and design positions.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/02/candy-crush-saga-developer-king-opens-over-160-jobs-to-grow-staff-count-by-25/feed/1Candy Crush Saga maker’s IPO one of the worst in recent historyhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/03/27/candy-crush-saga-makers-ipo-one-of-the-worst-in-recent-history/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/27/candy-crush-saga-makers-ipo-one-of-the-worst-in-recent-history/#respondThu, 27 Mar 2014 02:19:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=460108Candy Crush Saga publisher King made its initial public offering overnight, but saw massive day one losses.

BusinessInsider reports King’s stock opened at $22.50 but fell 15.56% by close of business.

That’s one of the largest day-one losses for a new company in the last six months, and also the worst debut in calendar 2014, according to various publications.

Observers had been hopeful of a day one pop – normally, a new stock will rise by an average of 15% on its first day – but Analyst Scott Sweet told MarketWatch that “traders immediately pulled the trigger”.

“It almost stood no chance. It wasn’t surprising. It’s getting pounded,” he said.

“King has withdrawn its trademark application for Candy in the U.S., which we applied for in February 2013 before we acquired the early rights to Candy Crusher,” said the rep.

“Each market that King operates in is different with regard to IP. We feel that having the rights to Candy Crusher is the best option for protecting Candy Crush in the US market. This does not affect our EU trademark for Candy and we continue to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/25/candy-crush-saga-maker-king-withdraws-trademark-application-for-candy-in-us/feed/2Candy Crush creator King.com files for IPOhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/02/18/candy-crush-creator-king-com-files-for-ipo/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/18/candy-crush-creator-king-com-files-for-ipo/#commentsTue, 18 Feb 2014 13:47:22 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=449517King.com, best known for building the shockingly successful Candy Crush empire that is leaving a pile of bodies in its wake, has filed for IPO in the New York Stock Exchange as King Digital Entertainment.

The filing is accompanied by financial statements revealing that the company posted revenue of $1.88 billion in 2013, with net profit of $567 million. Candy Crush Saga is now looking at 93 million active daily users, with another 35 million on the company’s other games. Candy Crush also accounts for 78 percent of all spending in King games, meaning it must protect this house, etc.

In an open letter published on the CandySwipe website, Runsome Apps founder Albert Ransom said that CandySwipe was trademarked in 2010, two years before Candy Crush Saga released, and hinted that King may have ripped off the earlier game.

“The app icon, candy pieces, and even the rewarding, ‘Sweet!’ are nearly identical. So much so, that I have hundreds of instances of actual confusion from users who think CandySwipe is Candy Crush Saga, or that CandySwipe is a Candy Crush Saga knockoff,” he wrote.

Ransom said he opposed King’s 2012 attempt to trademark its title due to “likelihood of confusion”, and has continued to fight, but has hit a wall.

“After quietly battling this trademark opposition for a year, I have learned that you now want to cancel my CandySwipe trademark so that I don’t have the right to use my own game’s name,” he said.

“You are able to do this because only within the last month you purchased the rights to a game named Candy Crusher (which is nothing like CandySwipe or even Candy Crush Saga). Good for you, you win. I hope you’re happy taking the food out of my family’s mouth when CandySwipe clearly existed well before Candy Crush Saga.”

Ransom created the app as a tribute to his late mother, who enjoyed similar style games, and spent three years working on it.

“CandySwipe was my first and most successful game; it’s my livelihood, and you are now attempting to take that away from me,” he said.

“You have taken away the possibility of CandySwipe blossoming into what it has the potential of becoming. I have been quiet, not to exploit the situation, hoping that both sides could agree on a peaceful resolution. However, your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me.”

The development community has reacted with disgust, with one indie coming forward to point out the hypocrisy of King’s claims to defending intellectual property given its alleged ripping off of other games. Still, at least we got CandyJam out of it.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/13/candy-crush-saga-trademark-crusade-taking-the-food-out-of-my-familys-mouth-says-indie-dev/feed/6King removes Pac-Avoid from its website, states it does not “clone other people’s games”http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/24/king-removes-pac-avoid-from-its-website-states-it-does-not-clone-other-peoples-games/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/24/king-removes-pac-avoid-from-its-website-states-it-does-not-clone-other-peoples-games/#commentsFri, 24 Jan 2014 20:48:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=443315Candy Crush developer King has denied it cloned the flash game Scamperghost with the release of Pac-Avoid, but has nonetheless taken the game off its website.

In a statement the firm said it does not clone other people’s game, and that IP should be firmly protected.

“King does not clone other peoples’ games,” the firm said. “King believes that IP – both our own IP and that of others – is important and should be properly protected. Like any prudent company, we take all appropriate steps to protect our IP in a sensible and fair way. At the same time, we are respectful of the rights and IP of other developers.

“Before we launch any game, we do a thorough search of other games in the marketplace, as well as a review of trademark filings, to ensure that we are not infringing anyone else’s IP. However, for the avoidance of doubt, in this case, this game – which was coded by a third-party developer 5 years ago – has been taken down.”

However, he did point out some legitimate similarities and the fact it partially copies Namco’s Pac-Man IP.

“I don’t really care that much that King.com copied our game,” he told RPS. “I have no interest or goal whatsoever of limiting other people’s ability to create whatever they want. I only resurfaced this in response to the actions King is taking to limit the innovation of others. King’s treatment of our intellectual property combined with their partial use of NAMCO’s trademark Pac(man) in their copied game shows extreme hypocrisy.

“They’re in the process of trademarking a common word — “Candy” — and have already taken action against other apps like Candy Slots, for example. By trademarking the word “Candy” they limit all of our freedom whether we’re big or small… You can’t make a Candy game. I can’t make a candy game. Not even great candy empires like Hershey, Ferrara, or Jelly Belly can make candy games.”

Meanwhile, the developer who create Pac-Avoid for King, has confirmed the studio he worked for was “asked to replicate” Scamperghost. The developer cities the fact they were “duped” into it by King’s Lars Jörnow who told the studio the original developers backed out of a contract and the game needed finished. There’s more on this over at Eurogamer.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/24/king-removes-pac-avoid-from-its-website-states-it-does-not-clone-other-peoples-games/feed/8The Banner Saga sequel blocked by King’s trademark claimhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-sequel-blocked-by-kings-trademark-claim/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-sequel-blocked-by-kings-trademark-claim/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2014 22:28:12 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=442490The Banner Saga developer Stoic has said it can’t fulfil its ambitions to make a sequel to the tactical RPG while King blocks its rights to the series’s title.

In a statement, Stoic said King’s trademark claim is interfering with its plans to make another game in the series.

“We won’t make a viking saga without the word Saga, and we don’t appreciate anyone telling us we can’t,” the developer said.

“King.com claims they’re not attempting to prevent us from using The Banner Saga, and yet their legal opposition to our trademark filing remains. We’re humbled by the outpouring of support and honoured to have others stand with us for the right to their own Saga. We just want to make great games.”

Stoic’s Alex Thomas told Polygon that the developer filed a trademark for The Banner Saga before King put in its own claims.

“They’ve blocked our trademark and extended the deadline for the opposition twice so that we are unable to have the rights to the name,” he said.

“Essentially, we are not allowed to own the name ‘The Banner Saga’ for our game about a viking epic, because King.com says they have claimed rights to the noun ‘saga,’ which means ‘a viking epic,’ forever more in the realm of games.”

King, the company behind Candy Crush Saga, said in a statement issued yesterday that it isn’t trying to stop Stoic from using the word “saga”, but has to go through the legal motions in order to prevent future issues – but a sequel to The Banner Saga falls into this category, apparently, since Stoic is prevented from using the title.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-sequel-blocked-by-kings-trademark-claim/feed/20The Banner Saga trademark dispute explained by King – statementhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-trademark-dispute-explained-by-king-statement/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-trademark-dispute-explained-by-king-statement/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2014 14:22:10 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=442260Candy Crush Saga developer King has responded to its trademark filing against The Banner Saga, claiming it is preserving its ability to enforce its rights.

Now in a statement to GI.biz, a King rep has explained why it has filed against The Banner Saga developer Stoic. The official line reads, “King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying build on our brand or our content. However, like any prudent company, we need to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP, both now and in the future.

“In this case, that means preserving our ability to enforce our rights in cases where other developers may try to use the Saga mark in a way which infringes our IP rights and causes player confusion. If we had not opposed Banner Saga’s trade mark application, it would be much easier for real copy cats to argue that their use of ‘Saga’ was legitimate.

“This is an important issue for King because we already have a series of games where ‘Saga’ is key to the brand which our players associate with a King game; Candy Crush Saga, Bubble Witch Saga, Pet Rescue Saga, Farm Heroes Saga and so on. All of these titles have already faced substantive trademark and copyright issues with clones.”

Is King out of line here, or does this all make sense? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-trademark-dispute-explained-by-king-statement/feed/28The Banner Saga also hit by King trademark claimshttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-also-hit-by-king-trademark-claims/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-also-hit-by-king-trademark-claims/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2014 02:05:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=442048Not content with candy-related takedowns, King has seemingly contradicted its promises to be thoughtful in its application of trademark claims by filing a notice against The Banner Saga, a game with absolutely no connection to Candy Crush Saga beyond a shared word.

Following rumours earlier today, King’s claim against The Banner Saga developer Stoic was confirmed by the discovery of a Notice of Opposition filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

“The Banner Saga mark is confusingly and deceptively similar to Opposer’s previously used Saga Marks,” King’s lawyers wrote in the claim.

“The use and registration by Applicant of the mark The Banner Saga for Applicant’s goods is likely to cause confusion or to cause mistake or deception in the trade, and among purchasers and potential purchasers, with Opposer’s Saga Marks, again resulting in damage to Opposer.”

The Banner Saga is a turn-based tactics game wrapped up in a narrative-driven RPG for Mac and PC, whereas Candy Crush saga is a casual, social puzzle game about sweets for mobile and Facebook.

Before we get out the tar and feathers and start screaming for King’s blood, remember that under US trademark law if companies do not protest potential trademark infringements then they are in danger of losing their trademarks altogether, leaving them open to genuine copycats. Even when both companies are aware of any real impact, the legalities must be pursued – as when Bethesda and Mojang went to war over Scrolls, managing to settle the case without a title change. Superannuation has been tweeting examples of silly-seeming trademark claims today.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/the-banner-saga-also-hit-by-king-trademark-claims/feed/17Candy Jam cocks a snook at King’s trademark claimhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/candy-jam-cocks-a-snook-at-kings-trademark-claim/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/candy-jam-cocks-a-snook-at-kings-trademark-claim/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2014 01:33:07 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=442045Indie developer Cariboo has launched Candy Jam, a game jam inspired by Candy Crush Saga King’s trademark on the word “candy”. The only rules of the jam are to “make a game involving candies. Consider using the word ‘candy’ several times, also ‘scroll’, ‘saga’ and ‘apple’ might give bonus points.” To avowed purpose of the jam is “because trademarking common names is ridiculous”. Got a game that fits the bill? Submit it to the jam. The deadline is February 3.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/22/candy-jam-cocks-a-snook-at-kings-trademark-claim/feed/3King responds to ‘Candy’ trademark concerns – statementhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/21/king-responds-to-candy-trademark-concerns-statement/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/21/king-responds-to-candy-trademark-concerns-statement/#commentsTue, 21 Jan 2014 11:19:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=441839Candy Crush Saga developer King has responded to concerns over its successful trademarking of the word ‘Candy.’ The studio has released a statement on the matter, stressing that it won’t pursue every use of the word.

Now, speaking with GI.biz, a King spokesperson stated, “We have trademarked the word ‘CANDY’ in the EU, as our IP is constantly being infringed and we have to enforce our rights and to protect our players from confusion.

“We don’t enforce against all uses of CANDY – some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so.”

“The particular App in this instance was called ‘Candy Casino Slots – Jewels Craze Connect: Big Blast Mania Land’, but its icon in the App store just says ‘Candy Slots’, focussing heavily on our trademark. As well as infringing our and other developer’s IP, use of keywords like this as an App name is also a clear breach of Apple’s terms of use.

“We believe this App name was a a calculated attempt to use other companies’ IP to enhance its own games, through means such as search rankings.”

Game developers are beiing hit with legal notices from King.com about the use of the word “candy” in their game titles.

The maker of Candy Crush Saga now owns the trademark to the word “candy” as it relates to games (and clothing, apparently), and it is now stating that any game in Apple’s iOS store that uses the word is infringing on its IP rights.

King is asking games with the word “candy” in them to be removed from the App Store.

One developer to feel the wrath of King is Ben Hsu, maker of All Candy Casino Slots.

“Your use of CANDY SLOTS in your app icon uses our CANDY trademark exactly, for identical goods, which amounts to trademark infringement and is likely to lead to consumer confusion and damage to our brand,” reads a note from Candy’s legal team, as reported by Gamezebo.com.

“The addition of only the descriptive term “SLOTS” does nothing to lessen the likelihood of confusion”

If developers refuse to remove their games from the App Store, King has the right to take further legal action.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/21/king-trademarks-candy-begins-asking-developers-to-remove-games-from-ios-store/feed/3Candy Crush Saga at one: King reflects on a year of mobile dominancehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/16/candy-crush-saga-at-one-king-reflects-on-a-year-of-mobile-dominance/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/16/candy-crush-saga-at-one-king-reflects-on-a-year-of-mobile-dominance/#commentsMon, 16 Dec 2013 08:41:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=434611Candy Crush Saga for mobile turned a year old last month.VG247’s Dave Cook speaks with developer King about the mass phenomenon, and why success needn’t be reserved to studios with triple-a budgets and big publishers behind them.

“We were guessing what kind of download numbers we would see, and even though we were guessing bigger numbers than we would think, nobody came close to the real numbers, so that was very fun to see, that instant success.”

As you read this, Candy Crush Saga has been played over 150 billion times on mobiles since it launched on November 14, 2012. That’s not a small number. This is the kind of widespread visibility and market-share that money cannot buy, but is instead reserved for those lucky products that just happened to arrive at the right time and place. It’s becoming common knowledge that Rovio released over 30 games before Angry Birds hit the big time, to cite one example.

There’s no magic formula for success in such a crowded mobile market, but now that Candy Crush Saga developer King has found that explosive return on investment, it now has to consider both how it got there and what it must do to remain in the sweet spot. From this side of the fence, I’d wager that the concept of ‘virality’ had a large part to play. Consider that extra lives can be earned by enlisting the help your Facebook friend network, and it’s not hard to see how this could have a viral knock-on effect. It’s devilishly smart, if not intrusive.

Virals often happen by accident, or were never really intended to catch on as they do, so how then does King make sure the fad doesn’t fade without anything to follow up on? I spoke with King’s Games Guru Tommy Palm about the impact Candy Crush Saga has had in the mobile space, among social circles and on the planet’s productivity as a whole.

“I don’t think anyone could foresee such a massive hit,” Palm recalled. “We have a special recipe of making games at King, where we try the core mechanics on our website King.com, and we had already made several match-three games before, but when we made the first version of Candy Crush – the one level game – we saw that this was hugely popular with our fans. So we kind of had a hint that it worked well but with the enormous numbers we’re seeing, it’s just extremely humbling to see how something can become so popular.”

“We had an internal competition on the launch one year ago, “Palm recalled when I asked him how it felt to realise that Candy Crush was becoming a big success. “We were guessing what kind of download numbers we would see, and even though we were guessing bigger numbers than we would think, nobody came close to the real numbers, so that was very fun to see, that instant success. It continued to grow of course, and we now have over half a billion Candy Crush downloads on multiple devices.”

It’s now estimated that one in 23 users have become a fan of Candy Crush Saga on Facebook, and it’s unsurprising, given how difficult the game becomes at a fairly early stage without spending money on boosters or asking your social network for aid. While many gamers out there have bemoaned this – some would say, ‘heavy-handed’ – coercion into either spending or pestering, Palm feels that the game’s social spread is certainly similar to that of a viral.

“Definitely with Candy Crush,” Palm continued, “one of the most important ways of it spreading have been people telling their friends about the game and that comes back to its social nature, with gameplay mechanics where, if you invite three friends or get three friends to help you, you can unlock the next episode.

“We see a lot of ‘casual talk’ about the game outside of the actual game, and that’s when you truly have a social game on your hands. When it’s something people can talk about instead of the weather that, I think, is a very important thing for us. Also with mobile games now, they can become so mass market because everybody – or at least most people – has a phone. It’s a relevant ‘news piece’ for everyone, that this is something they can download for free if they want to check it out.”

Palm has a point of course. The game is free, has a lot of people talking about it, and comes on a device that countless people have right now – either in their pocket or on their desk in front of them. Coupled with the social slant and you can see quite easily how something like Candy Crush Saga can invade so many homes, offices and schools. In this regard, King has a mainstream hit on its hands, yet the game is constantly savaged by the ‘hardcore’ pack as nothing more than a casual, irrelevancy.

I asked Palm for his thoughts on how that balance has shifted in the year since the mobile game launched. He replied, “This is definitely a very strong trend, that the devices are getting more and more capable as gaming devices. They now have great screens, the processing power is almost the same as the last console generation. It’s going to continue to grow as a phenomenon, and I think that trends were seeing show it’s a very good business. We’re also seeing a lot of traditional game developers coming over to this space and developing all types of different games that you can possibly imagine.”

But while developers continue to flock to the potentially lucrative, but increasingly saturated mobile lottery, King has opted to reign in its focus to avoid spamming the arena. Palm explained that King has been around for more than ten years and has always strived to have a strong portfolio of games, but Candy Crush has taught him that cross-platform gaming is a growing attraction, and one his internal teams are looking at moving forward. What this means from an IP standpoint is anyone’s guess, but Palm did tease that surprises are currently in the mail.

Palm closed in saying that if anyone had told him – a year ago – that Candy Crush would hit half a billion downloads, he simply wouldn’t have believed him. Yet here we are. It just goes to show that perhaps the mobile market is still unpredictable, and fraught with both danger and potential spoils for those who strike at the right time. Now that King has that footing, future successes should come much easier, but it does beg the question of who will be next?

Who could, potentially, be boasting similar numbers in the mobile market this time next year? It may not happen, or of course, it could come from the most unlikely source. While I don’t necessarily agree with or even like the way Candy Crush Saga spikes in difficulty to tip your hand towards either micro-payments or pestering friends on Facebook, it’s clearly a format that King’s core market have no qualms about. That’s not me, however.

I’m basically not in that target market, but I do wonder how inspirational this model has been within the triple-a pack, most notably Turn10, Polyphony Digital and Crytek, which have all employed similar booster models into their games as of late. Could it take off over time? Well, that remains to be seen, but for now, King is riding high in that area of the market and it’ll be interesting to see where it all goes from here.

What’s your view on the success and potential influence of Candy Crush Saga? Does it handle monetisation and virality well or does the model need work? Or perhaps you have no complaints about the system works and you really love the game. Either way, let us know what you think below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/16/candy-crush-saga-at-one-king-reflects-on-a-year-of-mobile-dominance/feed/4Candy Crush Saga developer delays IPO due to breakout successhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/candy-crush-saga-developer-delays-ipo-due-to-breakout-success/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/candy-crush-saga-developer-delays-ipo-due-to-breakout-success/#respondWed, 11 Dec 2013 02:18:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=433965King has elected to delay its initial public offering over concerns that the success of its flagship product, Candy Crush Saga, will have negative effetcs on its share worth.

The Telegraph reports King had been expected to float at $5 billion before the end of the year, but has pushed the IPO back to 2014.

Candy Crush Saga, which has been installed over half a billion times, is the culprit; King says Candy Crush has been “too successful”, and it wants to prove it can produce other successful games.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/11/candy-crush-saga-developer-delays-ipo-due-to-breakout-success/feed/0What’s the value of a dollar in the new generation? – opinionhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/02/microtransactions-whats-the-value-of-a-dollar-in-the-new-generation/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/02/microtransactions-whats-the-value-of-a-dollar-in-the-new-generation/#commentsMon, 02 Dec 2013 08:06:41 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=431015Microtransactions, DLC, and in-game currency have seen a notable increase this year, while the axles have come off digital console pricing. VG247’s Dave Cook recaps what have been a costly few months.

”You can, naturally, pay a fee to stop the adverts and videos but again that – in my humble opinion – pisses on the definition of the word ‘free.’ You’re essentially paying money to stop the advertisers coercing you into paying money. Do you see the problem yet?”

What is the value of a dollar online? We’ve endured DLC models for over a generation now and yet there appears to be a lack of consensus among the industry when accurate and fair pricing is involved. How could there be, given the various business practices and ethics found across the board? While some studios seem perfectly happy to support titles with free DLC and updates, others see these long-tail content streams as a golden business opportunity.

Some of you can’t stand the season pass format of post-launch expansion, while others are perfectly happy to invest extra dollars into a game they enjoy. It’s a subjective issue of course, like many things in this market, so it’s likely you have your own view on the area of monetisation. It’s your money after all. You’ve earned it, and you can choose to spend it how you see fit. Lately however, some studios seem to have over-stepped the mark, blurring the line between a good deal and the illusion of value.

I recently started playing Candy Crush Saga as research for an interview feature you’ll find on these very pages soon. It started off promising, with no real obligation to buy any of the in-app purchases, such as extra moves and candy-smashing boosters. It seemed that I’d be able to finish the whole thing without having to spend a penny, but at around about stage 25 things started to go horribly wrong. It was at that point the word ‘free’ became a misnomer.

Some levels are barely passable without paid boosters. In several instances the game will task you with clearing a set number of jelly blocks within a move limit, or reaching a score cap before the timer expires. That’s fine, but given the random placement of candies and the wholly unpredictable nature of combo chaining as new sweets cascade into the grid, there is no real strategy that can ensure victory. It’s a game of chance, unless you’e willing to pay for power-ups to help complete a stage. Being told the game is free is tantamount to a half-truth.

I failed the same stage five times in one day which depleted my lives. What happens when you run out of lives? You have to wait 16 minutes for them to replenish. Fail again and you have to wait longer, until eventually you can’t play the game until the next again day. You can, naturally, pay for more lives or request them from your mates on Facebook or over SMS, but am I hell going to start spamming people for help. That’s the kind of annoying message I delete from my social networking inboxes straight away, no questions asked.

Oh just die…

Needless to say I amn’t going back. I refuse to pay to pass a stage just because the studio made it barely passable without purchase. Several of my followers on Twitter both agreed and disagreed with me on this matter recently, and we had a very productive and interesting discussion about what had happened. Some of them argued that I shouldn’t be so down on the game, seeing as it’s free, while others agreed that while King’s initial offering is indeed generous, the payment model becomes more of a necessary crutch for some players as you progress.

I then mentioned Sonic Dash, the free-to-play Android clone of Temple Run. The game also features microtransactions in abundance but it isn’t so heavy-handed as other game out there. It has an option to revive on the spot if you watch an advert video though, which hasn’t gone down too well in customer reviewers on Google Play. Does watching a ten second advert fare better than paying money to revive yourself in other games?

I’m not exactly sure, but I for one amn’t a big fan of being constantly peddled to. I could perhaps make an exception if it’s a game I’m really enjoying, but it still leaves a sour taste. You can, naturally, pay a fee to stop the adverts and videos but again that – in my humble opinion – pisses on the definition of the word ‘free.’ You’re essentially paying money to stop the advertisers coercing you into paying money. Do you see the problem yet?

One school of thought is that monetisation keeps these games – and their studios – alive, while allowing titles to remain free in the first instance. I’ve seen enough metrics to know that non-free games on App Store often die a quick death after they stop being featured in the new section on iTunes. Not every game pushed out on Google Play becomes the next Angry Birds, and many of then die before they’ve had much of a fighting chance. The toss up between visibility, securing sales and monetisation models doesn’t appear to be taken lightly, and it seems the industry is still figuring out which models work, and which are met with scorn. Some are doing this better than others.

Which brings me to Angry Birds Go. Based on Pocket Gamer’s recent preview, Rovio’s latest appears utterly diseased with in-app purchases and models designed to force hands in pockets. It has an energy system that expires after five races, a go-kart that costs £70 and a gem -based currency system. You can find gems in races but they’re so sparse that you reportedly have to grind the same two tracks for a long time before having enough of them to unlock new circuits. But then you have to upgrade your cart to a suitable level before racing extra races, which costs more gems.

Grinding in free games is a cruel joke. Again, the content is initially free and that – I guess – is somewhat generous, but how many people are willing to repeat the same content for hours, if not days, just to unlock a new track? Too many it seems, because the format keeps rearing its ugly head. It’s a method that works, and who knows? Perhaps this entire article can be summed up as the rambling of a man who was born in a decade out of sync with the way things are today?

Yes, very tired.

It was a time that saw games released on cassette tape or cartridges as a full product with no obligation to pay extra, without missing content released on day-one, no advertising or PR nonsense-speak clouding reality, and without the insufferable, drip-fed maketing campaigns that serve to mis-sell and over-hype the product. I miss those days, and it seems that now, finally, even the console market is tuning into the mobile mind-set of monetisation. The last bastion has been breached.

I recently wrote about how Forza Motorsport 5’s thin content and payment model clearly paves the way for microtransactions. Perhaps this was Microsoft’s way of dipping a toe in the in-game purchase model? It could even have just been a grave error of judgement on Turn10’s part.

I know what some of you re thinking, and yes, you don’t have to pay anything above that initial price of entry if you don’t want to. But again, the career mode’s events require increasingly expensive cars to enter as you progress. You get that money by grinding 14 tracks over and over until you either give up, pay for XP boosters, buy the car with real money, or manage it without any additional purchase. If 14 tracks sounds like a lot, then consider that Forza 4 had over 20 on day one. The repetition honestly does start to wear over time.

Creative Director Dan Greenawalt recently said that it’s a skill-based system, seeing as you get a higher pay out as you turn driving assists off. What happens if you’re not good enough to race unaided? Should less-skilled players be penalized to an intolerable grind just because they aren’t that good? Is that fair, considering these people will have shelled out £50 for the privilege of the base game? It’s a solid racer, make no mistake, but it wears monetisation on its sleeve.

Then there’s the little matter of EA charging £63 for FIFA 14, Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed: Rivals on the PS4 store. That’s £8 more than the same games on Xbox One. Why? Why did this happen to begin with? Many people have suggested, ‘It’s the game’s RRP.’ So what? Here’s something to leave you with; say tomorrow, you wake up to the news report that all bricks and mortar game stores have mysteriously disappeared off the face of the planet, and the only way to buy console games is now via PSN, XBLA, Origin and the like.

Would you be happy with being held to ransom by publishers simply because there is no alternative? If Origin was the only way to buy Battlefield 4 on this Earth and EA decided to charge you £70, would you pay it, knowing that it was that, or nothing?

Seriously, think about that for a moment.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/02/microtransactions-whats-the-value-of-a-dollar-in-the-new-generation/feed/17Candy Crush Saga hits Kindle Fire in some territories today as free downloadhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/10/15/candy-crush-saga-hits-kindle-fire-in-some-territories-today-as-free-download/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/15/candy-crush-saga-hits-kindle-fire-in-some-territories-today-as-free-download/#commentsTue, 15 Oct 2013 13:01:27 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=417699Candy Crush Saga developer King has launched its insanely popular game for Kindle Fire on the Amazon Appstore today. Best of all, it’s free.

In a press release issued to VG247, King confirmed that the game will roll out today in select territories before a global launch on October 17. It is compatible with all generations of the Kindle Fire tablet.

“We’ve had such positive feedback from players regarding King’s first Kindle Fire title, Bubble Witch Saga, that we now feel the time is right to bring Candy Crush Saga to Kindle Fire fans,” said King’s game guru Tommy Palm in a statement. “The Kindle Fire is a great device with which to enjoy the Candy Crush Saga gameplay and, with levels regularly added by the King team, we hope to keep Kindle Fire owners entertained every day.”

Are you still hooked on Candy Crush Saga? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/10/15/candy-crush-saga-hits-kindle-fire-in-some-territories-today-as-free-download/feed/5Candy Crush Saga studio King filing for IPO in US, company reportedly worth $5 billionhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/candy-crush-saga-studio-king-filing-for-ipo-in-us-company-reportedly-worth-5-billion/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/candy-crush-saga-studio-king-filing-for-ipo-in-us-company-reportedly-worth-5-billion/#commentsFri, 27 Sep 2013 12:47:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=412373Candy Crush Saga studio King is reportedly filed an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to The Telegraph. According to the report, the UK-based company could be valued at around $5 billion. Back in August,it was reported that King was making £400,000 a day from Candy Crush Saga on just Facebook. Swimming it in they are. Thanks, Develop.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/candy-crush-saga-studio-king-filing-for-ipo-in-us-company-reportedly-worth-5-billion/feed/10Candy Crush dev reveals Papa Pear Saga for iOS and Androidhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/15/candy-crush-dev-reveals-papa-oear-saga-for-ios-and-android/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/15/candy-crush-dev-reveals-papa-oear-saga-for-ios-and-android/#respondThu, 15 Aug 2013 15:04:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=398493Candy Crush Saga developer King has announced its popular Facebook title Papa Pear Saga will launch on iOS and Android soon.

The title can be played over on Facebook now if you fancy a shot. It’ll hit iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and a range of Android devices in due course.

In a press release sent to VG247 this morning, King confirmed that its portfolio of titles now logs over 1 billion daily plays, following news that the company has canned five of its games to focus efforts on its most popular releases.

Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King said in a statement, “Papa Pear Saga is different to any of our other games. It still possesses that core King puzzle quality, but it will be our first mobile Saga game to have a physics element which we think will translate very well to mobile and tablet game play.

“It’s also astonishing to see game plays grow to over 1 billion a day. This is a tenfold increase since our first Saga game launch on mobile this time last year.”

We’ll update once we have a solid mobile release date. In the meantime, here’s some screens:

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/15/candy-crush-dev-reveals-papa-oear-saga-for-ios-and-android/feed/0Candy Crush dev closes five games to focus on core titleshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/13/candy-crush-dev-closes-five-games-to-focus-on-core-titles/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/13/candy-crush-dev-closes-five-games-to-focus-on-core-titles/#commentsTue, 13 Aug 2013 07:33:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=397555Candy Crush Saga developer King has closed five games in an effort to pool its focus on the studio’s biggest titles.

GI.biz reports that the five closed games are Bubble Saga, Hoop de Loop Saga, Puzzle Saga, Miner Speed and King Gold Games.

A company rep told the site, “In order to invest resources behind its most popular games and its forthcoming launches, King has decided to close some of its smaller titles next month. The games affected typically have fewer players and, in some cases, were earlier iterations of the hugely successful Saga model that King has developed over the past two years.”

The site flagged up rumours that King is looking to streamline its operations in preparation of going public, but nothing official has been said on the matter.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/13/candy-crush-dev-closes-five-games-to-focus-on-core-titles/feed/2Candy Crush Saga adverts ditched as dev strives for uninterrupted playhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/candy-crush-saga-adverts-ditched-as-dev-strives-for-uninterrupted-play/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/candy-crush-saga-adverts-ditched-as-dev-strives-for-uninterrupted-play/#respondWed, 12 Jun 2013 10:50:51 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=377875Candy Crush Saga developer King is to ditch in-game adverts in favour of a more seamless, uninterrupted gaming experience, according to an internal email sent around the company.

“King’s #1 focus around delivering an uninterrupted entertainment experience for our network of loyal players across web, tablet and mobile has unfortunately led to the difficult decision of removing advertising as a core element of King’s overall strategy.

“The executive team has decided to withdraw completely from the advertising business thus, removing all advertising elements within every King game worldwide effective immediately.”

King has yet to make a public statement on the matter, and GI.biz has since suggested that given the company’s high income from in-game purchases it perhaps doesn’t need to fall back on traditional advertising revenue streams to make its daily bread.

What do you make of the above? Is it a good move?

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/candy-crush-saga-adverts-ditched-as-dev-strives-for-uninterrupted-play/feed/0Candy Crush Saga dev King welcomes new board memberhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/candy-crush-saga-dev-king-welcomes-new-board-member/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/candy-crush-saga-dev-king-welcomes-new-board-member/#respondFri, 12 Apr 2013 07:44:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=357776Candy Crush Saga developer King has expanded its board with the arrival of tech venture capitalist Robert Cohn. The company is experiencing a heavy dose of boom-time lately.

GI.biz reports that Cohn joined the studio’s board of directors and was drawn to them for their “impressive growth” over the last few years. He’s a seasoned Silicon Valley veteran, having founded major voicemail player Octel Communications in the ’90s.

Said Cohn in a statement, “King has seen tremendous growth over the past couple years and has become one of the most prominent companies to impact the games industry today,” he said.

“I’m impressed with the team, the company’s culture, the stellar business model and the exciting challenges ahead. I look forward to serving on King’s board.”

The announcement follows King’s recent panel session at GDC, in which it revealed Candy Crush Saga enjoys 50 million players a day, and announced two new games. Check out the report here.

King’s CEO CEO Riccardo Zacconi added, “We are excited to have Bob join our board given his broad experience with public and private companies across the globe and the exceptional work he has done with his current and past portfolio of businesses.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/candy-crush-saga-dev-king-welcomes-new-board-member/feed/0Candy Crush Saga gets 50 million players a day, dev announces two new gameshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/candy-crush-saga-gets-50-million-players-a-day-dev-announces-two-new-games/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/candy-crush-saga-gets-50-million-players-a-day-dev-announces-two-new-games/#respondWed, 27 Mar 2013 09:43:36 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=353242Candy Crush Saga developer King.com has rebranded as it announced a string of significant milestones. It seems that 50 million of you are playing its sweet puzzler on a daily basis.

They’re now just called ‘King’ by the way.

Develop reports that the game enjoys 50 million players a day, that’s 108 million unique players a month. 49 million of those are playing on mobile devices, while the rest are on Facebook.

Those aren’t small numbers. The developer celebrated the stats at GDC 2013 yesterday and announced its rebranding. It was added that the studio went from 120 to 450 staff last year.

Speaking with the site, chief marketing officer Alex Dale said “Our positioning is now around sparkly, fun games. We’ve gone from zero mobile players to 49 million a month and have really focused on casual games – the brand revamp reflects that.”

Dale also revealed two new King games. The first is a match-three game called Farm Heroes Saga and the second is called Papa Pear Saga, which is a physics-based puzzler.

Still think mobile and social is a joke scene? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/27/candy-crush-saga-gets-50-million-players-a-day-dev-announces-two-new-games/feed/0King.com surpasses EA with 10 million daily Facebook usershttp://www.vg247.com/2012/04/18/king-com-surpasses-ea-with-10-million-daily-facebook-users/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/18/king-com-surpasses-ea-with-10-million-daily-facebook-users/#commentsWed, 18 Apr 2012 20:24:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=252086European start-up King.com has close to 10 million people playing its Facebook games daily, leading it to surpass the number of users who play EA titles on the social site. The firm’s most popular title, Bubble Witch Saga, currently has more players than Zynga’s Farmville. Another Facebook game from the firm, Candy Crush Saga, has launched last week and already claims half a million daily users. Still, it has a ways to go before catching up with the juggernaut that is Zynga and its 80 games with 65 million daily users. That being said, King.com hopes to “reach Zynga” levels with its popularity and is eyeing a possible IPO next year. Via Reuters.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/18/king-com-surpasses-ea-with-10-million-daily-facebook-users/feed/5